Assembly: The Zapatista delegation to Europe and the Kurdish Women’s Movement at the Museum as Parliament

Political speeches and discussion

In the context of a herstoric first visit of the Zapatistas to The Netherlands, we warmly invite you to join us for an assembly on revolutionary friendship and translocal comradeship between the Zapatista and Kurdish movements.

Earlier in the day, women from the Zapatista and Kurdish movements will meet and exchange visions and strategies with each other and with activist groups from Eindhoven and the Netherlands. The assembly will continue that conversation. Representatives of the Zapatista delegation and Kurdish movement will exchange political speeches. Whether you’re interested in feminism, revolution, comradeship, art - we welcome your questions, ideas, and dreams of a ‘world of many worlds’ in this conversation.

Women play a central role in the Zapatista and Kurdish struggle for stateless democracy and new forms of self-governance. We will collectively explore models of revolutionary feminist friendship, methods for translocal comradeship and the possible role of arts and culture within this work. 

Speakers and representatives will include: the Zapatista delegation to Europe, Nilüfer Koç, spokesperson for the Commission on Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), Vîyan Poch (Jîneolojî Centre) and Bêrîvan Lacin, Gezal Karabekir and Roştiyam Munzur from the Kurdish Women’s Movement in the Netherlands.

This herstoric assembly has been conceived by artist Iliada Charalambous, educator and arts researcher Sophie Mak-Schram, and architect and researcher Denisse Vega de Santiago, in collaboration with Nick Aikens (curator and researcher at the Van Abbemuseum) and Charles Esche (Director of the Van Abbemuseum). Elements of the closed sessions will be led by Kurdish and Zapatista groups, including the Mexico based collective, Círculo de Estudios Zapatistas de Hidalgo. The assembly is co-produced by the Museum as Parliament, Democratic Self-Administration of Rojava and Studio Jonas Staal.